I'm Racist. You're Racist. The System Is Racist. Now What?

For most of his life, Ibram X. Kendi admits he was a racist. He’s a black man, raised predominantly in black neighborhoods, and received an undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University, a historically black college. His upbringing was solidly middle class and Christian. He was not particularly focused on showing the world that black people could be twice as good as their white counterparts. Even so, he calls himself a racist. In his new book, "How to Be An Antiracist," author and professor Kendi combines searing autobiography with pointed analysis to show just how deeply racism is woven into our national—and global—fabric. He argues that the opposite of a racist isn’t someone who’s not racist, but instead an antiracist—someone who acknowledges how race has been constructed, and works actively against it. This week’s episode of the Mother Jones podcast features Kendi’s thoughts on antiracism, his writing process, and why this conversation is especially important in Trump’s America. Later in the show, we talk to Elizabeth Warren supporters at a big New York City rally about how they would convince Trump fans to switch their votes and back the Senator from Massachusetts in 2020. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices